Peter Dutton releases email shedding new light on au pair saga

By Fergus Hunter

10 September 2018 — 7:00pm

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has released fresh evidence that confirms a pre-existing relationship with a former colleague who asked him for help with a detained au pair, while still strongly rejecting claims he misled Parliament over the saga.

An email tabled late on Monday shows Russell Keag, a former colleague of Mr Dutton in the Queensland Police Service, sought to contact the minister directly in June 2015, addressing him as "Peter" and noting it had been a "long time between calls".

The signed note to Mr Dutton's publicly available email address calls into question a previous claim by the government that the appeal for help was not made in the name of the Home Affairs Minister's former colleague.

"If someone makes an application not even in the name of the person you worked with twenty years ago, and actually does it basically through the switchboard, that’s what doesn’t pass the pub test," Mr Morrison said.

The email – which Mr Dutton voluntarily disclosed – was sent at about 4pm on June 17, 2015. Previously released documentation shows Mr Dutton intervened the same day, meaning the appeal triggered a response within hours.

Fairfax Media has been told the minister never saw the email from Mr Keag and only considered the advice provided to him by the department, which didn't have his former colleague's name attached to it.

Dismissing claims that his former Queensland police colleague could be considered a personal connection, Mr Dutton on Monday said he had not "socialised with, met with or had personal contact with" Mr Keag since 1999.

However Labor and the Greens seized on the email as proof Mr Dutton should be sacked.

"If Peter Dutton knew the intended employer of one of these au pairs – like this email would suggest – Dutton has clearly misled Parliament," said Labor's immigration and border protection spokesman Shayne Neumann.

The tussle over the details is critical to claims by Labor and the Greens that Mr Dutton misled Parliament in March by categorically denying personal connections to two cases involving foreign au pairs.

Shortly after the email was tabled, former Australian Border Force commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg doubled down on his strongly contested claim he was asked to help resolve a visa issue on behalf of a "mate" of the Home Affairs Minister.

Questioning Mr Dutton's insistence he had no personal connections to two au pairs he saved from deportation, Mr Quaedvlieg last week claimed the minister's chief-of-staff, Craig Machlachlan, phoned him for assistance in June 2015 to help with a matter for "the boss' mate in Brisbane".

Mr Dutton quickly rubbished the claim as a "fabrication" because Mr Maclachlan did not start working in his office until October that year, and suggested Mr Quaedvlieg needed support for mental health issues.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton in Parliament on Monday.

Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

In further evidence submitted to a Senate inquiry examining the saga, Mr Quaedvlieg insisted the interaction occurred and an honest mistake over the dates could indicate a third and unreported ministerial intervention by Mr Dutton that should be investigated.

In his new evidence, Mr Quaedvlieg said he may have been "honestly mistaken" about the date of the conversation but stated "without any equivocation" that Mr Dutton's chief of staff contacted him about assisting a "mate" of the minister.

A spokeswoman for Mr Dutton said of Mr Quaedvlieg's new evidence: "Mr Quaedvlieg has lost his credibility and his statement today has no more validity than his fabricated statement from last week. He should provide the detail of the case to which he refers."

The Senate inquiry into Mr Dutton's action will be extended and Mr Quaedvlieg is expected to give evidence at a further hearing.

Mr Dutton has said Mr Quaedvlieg is motivated by "bitterness" over his sacking in March for helping his girlfriend get a job inside Border Force.